


Balanced

by Writerleft



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Korrasami Month 2017, Seeking Balance, Simplykorra, Tribute, Tribute to another author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 04:16:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12740832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerleft/pseuds/Writerleft
Summary: After Zaheer, After KuviraAfter falling in love and falling apart.They've earned their time. They've earned their peace.And found room and love enough for one more, too.(A tribute piece)





	Balanced

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SimplyKorra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyKorra/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Rebuild](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4431251) by [SimplyKorra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyKorra/pseuds/SimplyKorra). 



> (Not a part of [Comes Marching Home](https://archiveofourown.org/series/593860)). Probably you should read [Seeking Balance](https://archiveofourown.org/series/273651) if you want to read this. Probably you should read Seeking Balance even if you don't want to read this.

Korra held back a smirk, glancing at Tenzin as they stood facing the glowing Spirit Portal across the bay. Varrick and Zhu Li’s after-party was still going strong behind them, and even more than before, Korra found herself gravitating to the periphery at parties like this. And she’d never really enjoyed them to begin with.

However, just like before, Tenzin still barged into private moments, none the wiser of what he might be interrupting or what mood anyone else was in. As much as everything had changed, it was almost comforting to know that Tenzin was still… Tenzin. And as much as she enjoyed her solitude, she enjoyed the old airbender, too.

“Korra,” he was saying, “You’ve transformed the world more in a few years than most Avatars did during their lifetimes.”

“But I feel like I’ve only just begun! There’s so much more I want to learn, and do. And for the first time in a long time, I feel like I, you know. _Can_.”

“You don’t know how happy I am to hear you so full of hope again.”

“It’s... been a bit of a bumpy ride, huh?” Korra laughed at her understatement.

Tenzin chuckled. “I’ve come to realize life is one big bumpy ride.”

Korra paused, looking down.  

“I know I was in a pretty dark place after I was poisoned. I thought I could never be the person I was, that I was no use to anyone, that I…”

“Korra--”

She looked up, smiling at him. “I realized, that I am a new person now. The last three years were hard, the last year especially. But somewhere in all that suffering… I always wanted to do my duty, but now I feel like I understand the world more. I understand myself more. I think… I think now that I know what true suffering is, I know what I’m really fighting for. I want to help people, Tenzin, not just fight for them. I want to keep anyone else from going through what I did. Nobody deserves that. Not even people like Kuvira.”

Tenzin didn’t reply, not in words. But he put his hand on her shoulder, his always sympathetic, always supportive hand, and told her that he understood. And that he was so, so proud.

Korra placed her own hand over his. In spite of everything, how much trouble she’d put him through, to have him in her life and still so on her side…

Her family was bigger than she knew.

The sharp, high-pitched cry she’d come to cherish in the past few weeks caught her ear, and Korra’s head turned toward it at once. Little Suki was fussing, and Asami had brought her out of the party. Their eyes met, and Asami smiled.

“I’m... going to go check on things in the party,” Tenzin said, clearly latching onto the first excuse he could think of. “I’m not sure I trust the groom unsupervised on my island for very long.”

Korra smiled, watching him leave for a moment as Asami joined her. “You doing okay?” Asami asked.

Korra nodded. “Is she?”

“Our poor little girl is tuckered out,” Asami said, and it was true--Suki’s beautiful eyes were shut, and Korra was becoming accustomed enough to her daughter to recognize her distinct cries. “Maybe we should head home soon.”

She put an arm around Asami’s waist, resting her head on her shoulder to look down at Suki. “In a minute. I was just… enjoying the view.”

“It _is_ kinda beautiful,” Asami sighed. “And it’s going to be a lot of work, too. We’ve lost so much…”

Asami might have been looking at the ruined buildings, silhouetted against the Spirit Portal, but Korra knew that wasn’t what she was talking about. She raised her hand around Asami’s back, turning her affectionate stance to a comforting one. “I’m so sorry about what happened. Are you ready to talk about... Do you need--”  

Asami shook her head. “I’m just glad I was able to forgive him. That he was able to meet the rest of my family. I just wish…” She looked down at Suki.

Korra brought her free hand up under their daughter, guiding Asami to sit on the steps with her. It was honestly a relief when Asami began to cry--she’d been holding it in ever since the day Hiroshi had died.

With the agility motherhood had been teaching her, Korra managed to support Asami and Suki both. The brunt of Asami’s tears subsided quickly, with a chuckle at herself. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m just glad I could be here, now.”

Asami raised her head, locking her trembling eyes on Korra’s. “Me, too.”

Asami kissed her, lightly, a pleased hum in her throat, then scooted away enough to rest her head on Korra’s shoulder. “After everything that’s happened the past few months, the past few _years_ , I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.”

“Than these hard stairs?” Korra chuckled.

Asami shook her head. Korra couldn’t see her, but knew she was smiling. “Home. With my family.”

Asami had one hand back on the ground for support. Korra placed her hand beside it, twining their fingers together. “There’s… something else I didn’t tell you, something I didn’t write in my note.”

Asami shifted her weight to make Tsukiko more comfortable, but let Korra continue at her own pace. Gone were the days Asami had to ease Korra through life. Gone were the days Korra needed it.

She didn’t need Asami in order to function. But she needed her, all the same.

“I told you when I’d decided to… leave. That the Spirit Oasis was my last shot, that I was so hopeless and scared and… and all of that. But I didn’t tell you was that, I still had a little hope. Just a little hope. Varrick and Zhu Li, they reminded me. If… if the Spirit Oasis _had_ worked, if it _had_ made me better, I… I was going to ask you to…”

Asami kissed her cheek. She was crying again, but a different kind of tears. “I would have said yes,” she breathed.

Korra kissed her lips. “We’ll have to keep that in mind, then. My year away was so hard, and so lonely, and I still regret all the pain I caused you, but all the same…” Korra traced a finger along the side of Suki’s slumbering, perfect little face, “all the same, I wouldn’t trade what we have now for anything.”

“Neither would I,” Asami whispered.

The wind changed, wafting the sounds of the party toward them. Sounded like it was still in full swing.

Asami heard it, and yawned.

Korra smiled. “Time to go home? Put my girls to bed?”

Asami nodded, sleepily. “Sounds perfect.”

 

 ( _Fanart courtesy of[temeyes](http://temeyes.tumblr.com/post/174657068884/all-the-same-i-wouldnt-trade-what-we-have-now) by request of [thewillowtree3](https://thewillowtree3.tumblr.com/) as a tribute to my tribute to SimplyKorra... I love this fandom!) _

**Author's Note:**

> Two years on, and [SimplyKorra](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyKorra/pseuds/SimplyKorra)'s [Seeking Balance](https://archiveofourown.org/series/273651) trilogy remains one of the most beloved and recommended stories in the fandom. I happened upon it in a fraught, difficult time of my life, and seeing my two favorite girls work so hard, love so much, fall so low and rise so high again... it would've been a fantastic journey at any time, but then especially, it really filled my heart. I just reread it, to prep myself for this tribute piece, and I love it just as much as I did then.  
>   
> I've written my own story since, and my greatest ambition in the fandom is to be spoken of alongside Seeking Balance as one of the must-read stories. Alongside, because surely, nobody will ever surpass this unique alternate-canon achievement.  
>   
> While I know SimplyKorra has moved on to other fandoms, and his voice is sorely missed in the Korrasami community, I hope he knows that he left a big mark here, and if he ever wanted to dip his toe in again, I, for one, would be overjoyed.  
>   
> I'm sure you're writing something great, and I hope this story finds you well. Thank you for what you've given us.  
>   
> \--Writerleft, aka Shannon


End file.
